End structure for railway cars



Nov. 17,1925. 1,562,389

W. O. THOMPSON v END STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Jim= 11,. 1924 nvenor Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM o. THOMPSON, or CLEVELAND, onro.

END STRUCTURE FOR 'RAILWAY CARS.

Application filed January 11, 1924. Serial No@ 685,601.`

To f1.7? yIIJ/0m 'Hwy ronca/"a:

1 Bc it known that I, VVTLLTAM t). liioMrson', residing at Cleveland, county of CuyahogznState ot' Ohio and beine' a citizen ot thelv'nitod States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in End Structures for Railway Cars, et which the following is a Jfull, clear, and exact description, such as 'will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and to use the same,

forni o't'4 the invention, though it is to be un.

derstood that the invention is not limited to the exactdetails ot construction shown and described, as it is obvioustliat various niodi- .lications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur topersons skilled in the art. Y v

The ends of railway cars are subject to considerable stress due to the shitting of the lading which lis caused by the heavy locomotives, the automatic air brake, the hump and other modern railway service conditions. These thrusts may be local, tending to distort the end in some particular spot, as, for example, when a piece of piping or lumber shifts lengthwise, or a load of plastic material, such as grain,; sand or chatsinay shift, imparting a blow over a large area of the end wall, whereas rail, steel plates, castings and the like cause blows at the bottoni ot the car. From the above, it is apparent that a railway car end must be strong throughout its entire l area. `ll.\;pe1.'ie1ice shows that a stronger end wall is needed adjacent the iloor of the car because the. blows against this portion ot' the car wall are more 'frequent and more severe than at the middle or upper portion thereof. Very little strength is needed adjacent the top of the car wall and the strength required at the middle of the car wall is more than needed at the top and less than needed at the bottom.

While, of course, efforts are made to block the lading in the car, the shocks caused by the heavy locomotives, the emergency air brake and the classification hump tear the lading away from its moorings and throw it against the side walls of the car.

A rigid end to a car, and particularly Va large car, materially strengthens the entirel superstructure to resist the torsional and weaving movements which not only rack the ysequent damage claims.

car to pieces, but causes leaky roots Aand inoperative and leaky doors with their 'con- As it costs as much to transport a ton of freight car as `it Adoes a ton of lading it is imperative that-the weight ot' Vthe car inustbe kept as low as possible, therefore, the end .must be very klight as well as strong.

As freight cars are frequently damaged in wrecks and by other unfair usage, Vany end will be. damagedin service, therefore, it must be capable otlbeing easily repaired with such meagre facilities as the railroads are equipped with at their outlying repair points.

My invention relates to the construction of railway cars and'more vparticularly to metal end structures or walls for railway cars made of one or more metallic plates or panels formed with integral reinforcing stif fening or bracing corrugations. However, the construction' may be used in car side walls. It is readily adaptable to box, gondola, stock or other types of railway equipment.

Car endshavefbeen constructed with thin metallic plates with integral reinforcing corirugationsV formed therein, which sheetsor panels cover alarge .part of the end wall of the car.V l i Y 1 As stated before, a stronger end Wall is needed adjacent the floor of the car because theblows against this portion aremore fre: quent ,and more severe vthan elsewhere.`v lVhenV rone'ot these large panels is bulged or damaged it is diiii'cult and expensive to remove such a large portion of the end wall, and,furthermore, ifA this large panel was made oft Suiiicient Vthickness` of material to withstand thev shocks adjacent the floor of thecar itlwouldbe too `heavy for practical purposes; also it would be difticult to press the corrugations in the sheet, and, further more, prohibitive as to cost.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a separate sub-end sill which may be made of sutlieient thickness'of Inaterial and so formed as to resist these severe and frequent shocks adjacent the oorI This sub-end sill occupies very little area of the end wall and 'is so arranged that the corrugated panel may be attached to its 11pper partand its lower part may be attached Y to the framing of the car.

Another object of the invention is to provide -a sub-end sill 'having the advantages described in the preceding paragraph which sub-end sill performs the further function of tying together' th-e center sills the side sills the end sill the corner post and the corrugated end panel, thereby reinforcing what is connnonly known to be one of the weak points of present day car construction.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a gondola car with my invention applied thereon.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 tak-en in the direction as indicated by the arrows of Fig. 1.

The drawings show an ordinary type of gondola ywherein the floor sheet 1 extends 'over and is secured to the top of the end sill 2 and center or draft sills 3. The striking casting 4l is usually placed on the outside of the end sill as shown; The corner post 5 is angular in shape and has one leg secured to the end sill 2 by rivets 6 and has the' other leg secured to side sill 7 by rivets 8. The end wall of the car 9 is secured to the corner post 5 by rivets 10 which` end wall may be reinforced with integral corrugations 11, as shown, or any other desired manner. The upper part of end wall 9 is formed with flan-ge 12 and reinforced by stiffening member 13. The upper part of the side wall is reinforced by member 111. The upper part of the side and end walls maybe secured together in any desired manner, such as by member 15.

The sub-end sill is made of thicker material than the end wall 9 and is provided with horizontal flange 16 which is secured at various points to the sill 2 by rivets 17 and to the draft sills 3 by rivets 18. The portion 16 is also secured to the side sill 7 by rivets 19. The sub-end sill is provided t with a flange 20 at its upper part which is secured to the end wall 9 by rivets 21. The vertical part 22 of the sub-end sill occupies that portion of the end wall adjacent and just above the upper surface of the floor of thel car, and bei-ng of heavy material and reinforced against horizontal thrust by flanges 16 and 20', enables tto resist the horizontal thrust caused by the shifting of the lading.y Y

I claim:

1.v In combination with the side sills, center sills and metallic end wall of a railway car provided with integral horizontal corrugations a sub-end'sill of thicker material than said end wall having a vertical web forming the lower part of the end wall, and having an inwardly projecting horizontal flange secured to the center and side sills, the upper part of said sub-sill connected to the metallic end wall.

2. In combination with the side sills, center sills, corner posts and metallic end wall of a railway car provided with integral horizontal corrugations a sub-end sill of thicker material t-han said end wall having a Vertical web forming a part of the end wall secured to said corner posts, and having a lower inwardly projecting horizontal flange secured to said side sills and center sills, and having an upper Aoutwardly pro jecting horizontal flange secured to said metallic end wall.

3. In combination with the side sills, cen ter sills, and metallic end wall of a railway car provided with integral horizontal corrugations; a sub-end sill of thicker material than said end wall having a vertical web forming the lower part of the end wall, and having an inwardly projecting horizontal flange secured to the' center and side sills, the upper part of said sub-sill connected to the metallic end wall, the inside of said corrugated end wall being flush with the inside of the vertical wall of said subend sill.

4. In combination with the side sills, c`enter sills, corner posts and metallic end wall of a railway car provided with integral horizontal corrugations; a sub-end sill of thicker material than said end wall having a vertical web forming a part of the end wall secured to said corner posts, and having a lower inwardly projecting horizontal flange secured to said side sills and center sills, and having an upper outwardly projecting horizontal flange secured to said metallic end wall, the inside of said corrugated end wall being flush with the inside of the vertical wall of said sub-end sill.

WILLIAM o. THoMPsoN. 

